Tennis News -
At $3.77M Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, USA

[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Igor Andreev (RUS)/ Xavier Malisse (BEL) 26 62 10(5)
[R2] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Christopher Kas (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED) 64 46 10(7)

[QF] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND)

Super tiebreak win for Lee and Paul ... Hesh and Mark scored also another comeback victory in super tiebreak and now booked their showdown with Lee and Paul in quarters.
----------------------------------------------------
At $25K Hamburg Challenger, Germany (carpet)

[Q3] (14) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,577) bt JEGIOLKA Justyna (POL,678) 26 62 61

[R1] (Q) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,577) vs (WC) SPINCKE Claudia(GER,NR)

Good comeback victory and opportunity of grabbing some ranking points.
---------------------------------------------
At $25K Pelham Challenger, AL, USA (clay)

[Q] (2) IRIGOYEN Maria (ARG)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) bt JONES Whitney (USA)/ ROLLE Tiya (USA) 61 64

[R1] (Q) IRIGOYEN Maria (ARG)/ UBEROI Shikha (IND) vs LEE Ye-Ra (KOR)/ TEZUKA Remi (JPN)

Shikha is playing doubles with Argentine player .. They won their qualifying match and now in maindraw.

Tennis News -
At $10K India F5 Futures, Chandigarh

Singles First Round -
(1)(WC) Rohan Bopanna (IND,328) bt (WC) Vijayant Malik (IND,1322) 63 64
(Q) Peraklat Siriluethaiwattana (THA,UNR) l Navdeep Singh (IND,845) 62 63
Danila Arsenov (RUS,782) bt Sergei Krotiouk (RUS,754) 64 63
(6) Nathan Thompson (USA,657) bt Katsushi Fukuda (JPN,1023) 61 63

Divij Sharan (IND,727) bt (4) Ashutosh Singh (IND,610) 63 46 76(5)
(Q) Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND,1047) bt Purav Raja (IND,873) 76(4) 62
Roman Jebavy (CZE,765) bt (Q) Zhuo-Qing Zhou (CHN,UNR) 61 62
Andrey Kumantstov (RUS,767) bt (8) Hsin-Han Lee (TPE,702) 76(8) 76(5)

(5) Yu Wang Jr. (CHN,620) bt Rohan Gajjar (IND,891) 62 63
Vivek Shokeen (IND,716) bt (Q) Ji Shi (CHN,UNR) 63 64
(LL) Ye Du (CHN,1733) bt (Q) Mithun Murali (IND,UNR) 75 75
(3) Hyun Woo Nam (KOR,524) bt Vijay Kannan (IND,724) 63 64

(7) Kento Tekeuchi (JPN,662) bt (Q) Rupesh Roy (IND,1096) 61 61
(WC) Harsh Mankad (IND,1331) bt (Q) Ciaran Moore (RSA,1468) 57 62 63
(WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND,1679) bt John Mcgohan (IRL,926) 63 64
(2) Peng Sun (CHN,487) bt (Q) Vishnu Vardhan (IND,991) 62 63

Doubles First Round -
(1) Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt Divij Sharan (IND)/ Vishnu Vardhan (IND) 46 76(2) 10(8)
Ilya Belyaev (RUS)/ Sergei Krotiouk (RUS) bt Peng Sun (CHN)/ Hui Zhang (CHN) 62 64

(3) Rohan Gajjar (IND)/ Purav Raja (IND) bt Vijayant Malik (IND)/ Yannick Nelord (IND) 64 62
John Mcgohan (IRL)/ Ciaran Moore (RSA) bt (WC) Ash Misquith (CAN)/ Navinder Pal Singh (IND) 64 76(5)

Harsh Mankad (IND)/ Rupesh Roy (IND) bt (WC) N. Vijay Sundar Prashanth (IND)/ Ranjeet Virali-Murugesan (IND) 61 63
Roman Jebavy (CZE)/ Nathan Thompson (USA) bt (4) Hsin-Han Lee (TPE)/ Yu Wang Jr. (CHN) 64 63

(WC) Yuki Bhambri (IND)/ Kamala Kannan (IND) bt Katsushi Fukuda (JPN)/ Kento Takeuchi (JPN) 64 67(7) 10(8)
Christoph Lessiak (AUT)/ Mario Tupy (AUT) bt (2) Vijay Kannan (IND)/ Navdeep Singh (IND) 57 63 10(6)

Doubles Quarter Finals -
(1) Vivek Shokeen (IND)/ Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt Ilya Belyaev (RUS)/ Sergei Krotiouk (RUS) 60 61

Tennis News -
At $25K Hamburg Challenger, Germany (carpet)

[Q1] (14) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,577) Bye
[Q2] (14) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,577) bt PUTTHOFF Frederike (GER) 36 61 63

[Q3] (14) NAGARAJ Sandhya (IND,577) vs JEGIOLKA Justyna (POL,678)

Good to see Sandhya is playing on different surface in tough Hamburg challenger.
---------------------------------------------
At $25K Pelham Challenger, AL, USA (clay)

[Q1] UBEROI Shikha (IND,924) bt DAVIS Dewonder (USA,UNR) 60 60
[Q2] UBEROI Shikha (IND,924) l DEVIDZE Salome (GEO,591) 46 63 46

Shikha lost in 2nd round of qualifying ... Though she had 60 60 win in first round, but nothing to judge from that win as her opponent was 49 yrs old and must be club player.
---------------------------------------------
At $10K Antalya - Belek Futures, Turkey (clay)

[Q1] (8) EASWARAMURTHI Ashmitha (IND,1054) Bye
[Q2] (8) EASWARAMURTHI Ashmitha (IND,1054) l NAGY Judit (HUN,UNR) 26 36

Tennis News -
At $3.77M Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, USA

[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Tomas Berdych (CZE)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) 36 63 10(5)

[R2] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Igor Andreev (RUS)/ Xavier Malisse (BEL)

Hesh and Mark had winning start though they lost first set.

Tennis News -
At $3.77M Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, USA

[R1] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 26 60 10(3)

[R2] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Christopher Kas (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED)

After losing first set Lee and Paul showed solid comeback to won second set and super-tiebreak.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $15K 32nd Yonex Polish International Championships 2008, Warsaw/Spala

[R2] (7) Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l (Q) Ville LANG (FIN,79) 17-21 13-21

Very surprising loss considering Arvind's recent performance.

Squash News -
At $3K NSC Satellite #3 2008, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[QF] (3) Gaurav Nandrajog (IND,117) l (7) Graeme Wilson (NZL,163) 8-11 11-13 6-11 (35m)
[QF] (5) Naresh Kumar (IND,152) l (2) Max Lee (HKG,118) 5-11 11-9 5-11 8-11 (38m)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $10K India F4 Futures, Gurgaon

Singles Semi Finals -
(1) GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW,435) bt JEBAVY Roman (CZE,768) 64 76(4)
THOMPSON Nathan (USA,637) bt (2) SUN Peng (CHN,481) 61 63

Singles Final -
THOMPSON Nathan (USA,637) bt (1) GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW,435) 62 62

Doubles Final -
LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ WANG Yu Jr. (CHN) bt SHARAN Divij (IND)/ VARDHAN Vishnu (IND) 76(4) 64

Badminton News -
At $15K 32nd Yonex Polish International Championships 2008, Warsaw/Spala

[R1] (7) Arvind BHAT (IND,43) bt Juergen KOCH (AUT,74) 21-18 21-17

[R2] (7) Arvind BHAT (IND,43) vs (Q) Ville LANG (FIN,79)

Winning start for Arvind in Polish Open ... Having qualifier in ssecond round.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $3K NSC Satellite #3 2008, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[R1] (3) Gaurav Nandrajog (IND,117) bt Valentino Bong (MAS,281) 9-11 11-8 11-7 11-9 (57m)
[R1] (5) Naresh Kumar (IND,152) bt Mohd Reza Sadghpour (IRI,263) 11-7 11-8 14-16 12-10 (40m)

[QF] (3) Gaurav Nandrajog (IND,117) vs (7) Graeme Wilson (NZL,163)
[QF] (5) Naresh Kumar (IND,152) vs (2) Max Lee (HKG,118)

Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Thursday March 27 Round XI

Blindfold Chess -
Anand-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Gelfand 1-0
Topalov-Ivanchuk 1-0
Leko-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Carlsen 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Van Wely-Anand 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Mamedyarov 1-0
Ivanchuk-Topalov 1-0
Aronian-Leko 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Morozevich 1/2-1/2

Final Standings Blindfold -
1. Aronian 6½
Kramnik 6½
Morozevich 6½
Topalov 6½
5. Anand 6
Carlsen 6
Leko 6
8. Karjakin 5
Van Wely 5
10. Ivanchuk 4½
Mamedyarov 4½
12. Gelfand 3

Final Standings Rapid -
1. Aronian 8
2. Ivanchuk 6½
3. Carlsen 6
Gelfand 6
Leko 6
6. Kramnik 5½
Topalov 5½
8. Anand 5
9. Karjakin 4½
Mamedyarov 4½
Morozevich 4½
12. Van Wely 4

Final Combined Standing -
1. Aronian 14½
2. Carlsen 12
Kramnik 12
Leko 12
Topalov 12
6. Anand 11
Ivanchuk 11
Morozevich 11
9. Karjakin 9½
10. Gelfand 9
Mamedyarov 9
Van Wely 9

So disappointed result for Anand as he ended on T6 position and 5 pts behind winner Aronian.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K+H AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico

[QF] GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) l (3) KUBOT Lukasz (POL)/ TECAU Horia (ROU) 46 16

Tennis News -
At $3.77M Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, USA

[R1] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs Yves Allegro (SUI)/ Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)
[R1] (4) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Tomas Berdych (CZE)/ Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)

Sania has withdrawn from Miami Masters due to her right wrist injury ... Ukranian Mariya Koryttseva has taken Sania's place in the draw as a lucky loser.

Miami Masters doubles draw is out ... Lee and Paul r in same draw of Mahesh and Mark, if these pairs win their respective matches then they can face eachother in quarters.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K+H AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico

[R1] GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) bt GARCIA Adrian (CHI)/ MAYER Leonardo (ARG) 76(8) 76(1)

[QF] GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) vs (3) KUBOT Lukasz (POL)/ TECAU Horia (ROU)

Rajeev retired from his singles match so there was uncertainty over his doubles participation with Mustafa ... But he looks fine as they played and scored victory ... This was Mustafa's first victory of 2008 season at challengers level.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F4 Futures, Gurgaon

Singles Quarter Finals -
(1) GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW,435) bt KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS,772) 67(4) 63 4-1 Retd.
JEBAVY Roman (CZE,768) BT (5) KHAN Aqeel (PAK,547) 75 16 64

THOMPSON Nathan (USA,637) bt (4) NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR,509) 61 1-0 Retd.
(2) SUN Peng (CHN,481) bt (Q) UZAKOV Vaja (UZB,820) 64 36 63

Doubles Semi Finals -
LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ WANG Yu Jr. (CHN) bt (WC) KANNAN Kamala (IND)/ KHAN Aqeel (PAK) 63 36 10(6)

SHARAN Divij (IND)/ VARDHAN Vishnu (IND) bt LIBERHAN Tushar (IND)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) 75 75
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Tueday March 26 Round X

Blindfold Chess -
Ivanchuk-Mamedyarov 0-1
Van Wely-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Anand 0-1
Karjakin-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Leko 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Mamedyarov-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Van Wely 1-0
Anand-Gelfand 0-1
Morozevich-Karjakin 1-0
Kramnik-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Leko-Carlsen 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian has won the 17th Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament with one round to spare ... He is 2½ pts ahead of second place players.

Squash News -
At $12K NSC Star 1 Tournament, Kuala Lumpur

[F] (6) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) l (1) Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL,18) 1-9 2-9 8-10 (30m)

So Joshna's wait for her first WISPA title is continue ... This was her 2nd loss in final in last 2 weeks ... But still creditable performance from her scoring 2 upset wins over top-30 players ... Also in final losing first 2 games easily she produced creditable fight in third game against top seed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At $10K India F4 Futures, Gurgaon

Singles Second Round -
(1) GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW,435) bt (WC) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,1502) 63 62
KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS,772) bt (6) ABDUKHALIKOV Syrym (KAZ,583) 63 5-1 Retd.

JEBAVY Roman (CZE,768) bt (WC) MANKAD Harsh (IND,1289) 26 76(1) 64
(5) KHAN Aqeel (PAK,547) bt (Q) ARSENOV Danila (RUS,785) 75 61

THOMPSON Nathan (USA,637) bt KANNAN Vijay (IND,727) 61 62
(4) NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR,509) bt TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN,661) 64 61

(Q) UZAKOV Vaja (UZB,820) bt (WC) GAJJAR Rohan (IND,893) 63 62
(2) SUN Peng (CHN,481) bt (Q) ROSENBERG Idan (ISR,UNR) 61 36 62

Doubles Quarter Finals -
LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ WANG Yu Jr. (CHN) bt JEBAVY Roman (CZE)/ KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS) 62 63
(WC) KANNAN Kamala (IND)/ KHAN Aqeel (PAK) bt (WC) MURALI Mithun (IND)/ VIRALI-MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND) 62 36 10(6)

LIBERHAN Tushar (IND)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (WC) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND)/ COUPLAND George (GBR) 26 64 10(6)
SHARAN Divij (IND)/ VARDHAN Vishnu (IND) bt (2) ABDUKHALIKOV Syrym (KAZ)/ GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW) W/O

Very poor result for Indian players as not a single player manage to take home advantage in singles ... :(

Squash News -
At $12K NSC Star 1 Tournament, Kuala Lumpur

[SF] (6) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (2) Sharon Wee (MAS,22) 9-6 3-9 1-9 9-7 9-2 (50m)

[F] (6) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) vs (1) Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL,18)

Joshna produced best performance of her short career to beat talented Malaysian Sharon Lee ... This was Joshna's first win over top-25 player ... Recently Joshna showing big improvement in her game and moving rightly at her goal of playing in big league with improved ranking.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K+H AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico

[R1] (LL) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) l (8) STADLER Simon (GER,185) 76(5) 16 16

Easy meltdown in last 2 sets after winning first set in tiebreak.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Tueday March 25 Round IX

Blindfold Chess -
Leko-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Aronian 0-1
Kramnik-Carlsen 1-0
Anand-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Van Wely 0-1
Topalov-Gelfand 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Karjakin-Leko 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Morozevich 1-0
Carlsen-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Anand 1-0
Van Wely-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Topalov 1/2-1/2

Standings Blindfold after 9 rounds -
1. Aronian 5½
Kramnik 5½
Morozevich 5½
4. Carlsen 5
Leko 5
Topalov 5
7. Anand 4½
Ivanchuk 4½
9. Karjakin 4
Van Wely 4
11. Gelfand 3
12. Mamedyarov 2½

Standings Rapid after 9 rounds -
1. Aronian 7
2. Carlsen 5
Ivanchuk 5
Leko 5
5. Anand 4½
Kramnik 4½
Topalov 4½
8. Gelfand 4
Karjakin 4
Mamedyarov 4
11. Van Wely 3½
12. Morozevich 3

Combined Standing after 9 rounds -
1. Aronian 12½
2. Carlsen 10
Kramnik 10
Leko 10
5. Ivanchuk 9½
Topalov 9½
7. Anand 9
8. Morozevich 8½
9. Karjakin 8
10. Van Wely 7½
11. Gelfand 7
12. Mamedyarov 6½

Anand is losing plot in a big way in this Amber Championship and currently he is 7th position and 3½ pts behind leader Aronian.

Tennis News -
At $2.1 M Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, USA

[R1] (29) Sania Mirza (IND,31) Bye

Sania will play winner between 2 wildcard players ... Wildcard #137 German Lisicki having couple of good wins this season over #13 Dinara Safina in Australian Open and #33 Lindsay Davenport in Federation Cup.

Her third round match against #6 Anna Chakvetadze will give us more detail picture of Sania's recent progress.
---------------------------------------
At $50K+H AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico

[Q3] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) l (6) HEALEY Nathan (AUS,375) 76(2) 67(5) 16

Maindraw -
[R1] RAM Rajeev (USA,239) l (4) SOEDA Go (JPN,169) 16 0-1 Retd.

[R1] (LL) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) vs (8) STADLER Simon (GER,185)

Kash couldn't managed to finish it in 2 sets and then dominating performance by Nathan in third set ... But still Kash is in maindraw as lucky loser.

Rajeev retired from his first round match ... So that means his chances of participation in doubles with Mustafa r very low.
---------------------------------------
At $15K Egypt F2 Futures, Giza (clay)

[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l (8) MIGANI Leandro (ARG,408) 57 57

Doubles -
[R1] FILENKOV Alexei (RUS)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) l BURY Alexander (BLR)/ VOLTCHKOV Vladimir (BLR) 16 16
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $10K NSC Star 1 Tournament, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (8) Gaurav Nandrajog (IND,117) l Shamsul Islam Khan (PAK,119) 12-10 7-11 6-11 7-11 (39m)
---------------------------------------
At $12K NSC Star 1 Tournament, Kuala Lumpur

[R1] (6) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt Siti Munirah Jusoh (MAS,62) 9-3 3-9 9-2 9-3 (48)
[R1] Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) bt (5) Donna Urquhar (AUS,40) 5-9 Retd.

[QF] (6) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (4) Line Hansen (DEN,28) 9-1 9-4 8-10 9-0 (38m)
[QF] Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) l (2) Sharon Wee (MAS,22) 3-9 4-9 2-9 (24m)

[SF] (6) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) vs (2) Sharon Wee (MAS,22)

Joshna had excellent start in this NSC Star event ... She scored another victory over top 30 European player ... Now having tough match against Malyasian Sharon Wee.

Dipika had one lucky break in first round as her seeded opponent retired from the match after winning first game ... But Wee was too good for her in quarters.

Tennis News -
At $10K India F4 Futures, Gurgaon

Singles First Round -
(1) GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW,435) bt SHOKEEN Vivek (IND,716) 75 62
(WC) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND,1502) bt SIE Elbert (INA,713) 63 36 62
KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS,772) bt (Q) MOORE Ciaran (RSA,1408) 63 62
(6) ABDUKHALIKOV Syrym (KAZ,583) bt (Q) FUKUDA Katsushi (JPN,1016) 75 64

(WC) MANKAD Harsh (IND,1289) bt (3) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU,498) 63 63
JEBAVY Roman (CZE,768) bt LEE Hsin-Han (TPE,703) 67(4) 64 76(6)
(Q) ARSENOV Danila (RUS,785) bt (Q) MCGAHON John (IRL,922) 67(4) 63 62
(5) KHAN Aqeel (PAK,547) bt SHARAN Divij (IND,657) 75 63

THOMPSON Nathan (USA,637) bt (8) WANG Yu Jr. (CHN,616) 62 61
KANNAN Vijay (IND,727) bt SINGH Navdeep (IND,712) 64 62
TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN,661) bt (SE) YOUNG Ryan (USA,UNR) 61 64
(4) NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR,509) bt (WC) RAJA Purav (IND,874) 67(5) 63 76(3)

(WC) GAJJAR Rohan (IND,893) bt (7) SINGH Ashutosh (IND,601) 46 76(6) 76(2)
(Q) UZAKOV Vaja (UZB,820) bt (Q) VIRALI-MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND,1053) 36 63 60
(Q) ROSENBERG Idan (ISR,UNR) bt (Q) KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS,892) 75 64
(2) SUN Peng (CHN,481) bt IKRAMOV Sarvar (UZB,704) 64 61

Doubles First Round -
JEBAVY Roman (CZE)/ KUMANTSOV Andrey (RUS) bt (1) SHOKEEN Vivek (IND)/ SINGH Ashutosh (IND) 63 64
LEE Hsin-Han (TPE)/ WANG Yu Jr. (CHN) bt NAM Hyun-Woo (KOR)/ SIE Elbert (INA) 64 63

(WC) KANNAN Kamala (IND)/ KHAN Aqeel (PAK) bt (3) LEONTE Bogdan-Victor (ROU)/ SINGH Navdeep (IND) 62 76(7)
(WC) MURALI Mithun (IND)/ VIRALI-MURUGESAN Ranjeet (IND) bt FUKUDA Katsushi (JPN)/ TAKEUCHI Kento (JPN) 61 62

(WC) BHAMBRI Yuki (IND)/ COUPLAND George (GBR) bt KANNAN Vijay (IND)/ SRIDHAR Vinod (IND) 62 46 11(9)
LIBERHAN Tushar (IND)/ ROY Rupesh (IND) bt (4) ARSENOV Danila (RUS)/ UZAKOV Vaja (UZB) 36 75 12(10)

SHARAN Divij (IND)/ VARDHAN Vishnu (IND) bt MCGAHON John (IRL)/ THOMPSON Nathan (USA) 63 75
(2) ABDUKHALIKOV Syrym (KAZ)/ GHAREEB Mohammad (KUW) bt GAJJAR Rohan (IND)/ RAJA Purav (IND) 76(2) 75

Only 3 Indians able to win their first round singles matches and 1 more definetly going to add them ... But huge wins for Harsh and Yuki ... Harsh opened draw for him after beating #3 Leonte ... Yuki scored good win against Indonasian player, who was almost 800 places above him ... In doubles also Yuki had great start with his British partner with win over seasoned pair .. Other hand Purav had heart-breaking loss against #4 seed Korean Nam.

Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Final Standing

T2 Vijay Singh 73 68 63 68 -16 $ 530,000.00
T26 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 70 73 -7 $ 66,500.00
T34 Daniel Chopra 72 70 69 72 -5 $ 57,500.00
T51 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 68 72 -1 $ 44,750.00

Considering his first 3 rounds performance disappointing end for Jeev though this was his best finish in any World Golf Championship ... Good start for SSP on his first WGC event.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $15K Egypt F2 Futures, Giza

[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (8) MIGANI Leandro (ARG,408)

Doubles -
[R1] FILENKOV Alexei (RUS)/ RASTOGI Karan (IND) vs BURY Alexander (BLR)/ VOLTCHKOV Vladimir (BLR)

Tennis News -
At $50K+H AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico

[Q2] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) bt AMADO Juan Pablo (ARG,412) 63 62

[Q3] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,269) vs (6) HEALEY Nathan (AUS,375)

Maindraw -
[R1] RAM Rajeev (USA,239) vs (4) SOEDA Go (JPN,169)

Doubles -
[R1] GHOUSE Mustafa (IND)/ RAM Rajeev (USA) vs GARCIA Adrian (CHI)/ MAYER Leonardo (ARG)

Now having tough match in final qualifying against tricky experianced Australian Healey.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Fourth Round
(Play has been suspended for Round 4 due to Darkness.)
T2 Vijay Singh 73 68 63 -3 -15 after 9 holes
T27 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 70 +1 -7 after 13 holes
T39 Daniel Chopra 72 70 69 +1 -5 after 16 holes
T47 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 68 -1 -2 after 17* holes

Jeev is +1 for the day after playing 13 holes, today he needs to play remaining 5 holes ... It would be big let down if he doesn't finish inside top 20 considering his first 3 rounds performance.

Daniel is also +1 for the day after playing 16 holes ... Shiv is -1 after playing 17 holes and he is good position to finish inside top 50 on his debut World Golf Championships event.

Vijay is challenging leader Geoff Ogilvy, who is -17 ... Vijay is -3 for the day and 2 strokes behind leader ... Both needs to play another 9 holes so good chance for Vijay.

Boxing News -

Jitender Kumar (51 kg - Flyweight) became the fifth Indian boxer to make the cut for Beijing Olympics after winning the third-place playoff in the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan ... He defeated Philippines' Castro Godfrey 13-6 in the bronze medal play-off to book his first trip to Olympics.

But Dilbag Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) had heart-breaking loss in the final, he lost 11-16 to Turkmenistan's Bashirov Aliasker where only the winner was getting an Olympic quota place.

In finals, Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight,) defeated Korean Cho Deok-Jin in the finals today to claim the gold medal but Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) lost 10-16 to Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran (both qualified for Olympics yesterday after winning their respective semi-finals).

Jitender gave credit of qualifying for Olympics to a pep talk from his Akhil Kumar, who already qualified for Olympics -
"I was very disturbed and could not sleep properly after losing the semifinal. Akhil called me and helped me get over the gloom. He also helped me strategise for today's bout. I put my uppercut to good effect against Godfrey whose short frame also worked to my advantage."
-------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

Sunday March 23 Round VIII

Blindfold Chess -
Aronian-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Mamedyarov 1-0
Karjakin-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Kramnik 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Anand-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1
Topalov-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Van Wely - 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Gelfand - 1-0
Kramnik-Ivanchuk - 1/2-1/2

Anand lost against Aronian in 50 moves in Blindfold and managed only draw in Rapid ... With that Anand's title chances at Amber r very slim ... He is currently lying on 4th position with 8½ pts and 2 pts behind leader Aronian.

Boxing News -

Indian boxers Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight) and Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) have qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after reaching the finals in a second Asian boxing qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan.

So these 2 joined A.L. Lakra (57 kg - Featherweight) and Akhil Kumar (54 kg - Bantamweight), who already ensured their berths.

In semis Vijender defeated Iranian Amiri Homayon 19-13 and Dinesh outscored his Mongolian opponent in the third round ... Vijender will clash with South Korean Cho Deok Jin and Dinesh will meet Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran in the finals.

Two more Indian boxers, Jitender (51 kg - Flyweight) and Dilbagh Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) - are in line to qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics ... Dilbagh need to win the final bout against his Turkmenistani rival because only the gold medallist will qualify from this category ... Jitender lost in semis to his Kazakhstan opponent but he still has a chance as the third-place playoff winner will also qualify for Beijing from this category.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K AGT Challenger, Leon, Mexico

[Q1] (2) AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) bt McCLUNE Michael (USA,387) 57 61 62

[Q2] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) vs AMADO Juan Pablo (ARG,412)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Third Round

T2 Vijay Singh 73 68 63 -12
T11 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 70 -8
T22 Daniel Chopra 72 70 69 -5
T47 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 68 -1

Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

Saturday March 22 Round VII

Blindfold Chess -
Morozevich-Ivanchuk 1-0
Kramnik-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Leko-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Anand-Carlsen 1-0

Rapid Chess -
Ivanchuk-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Gelfand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Topalov 1-0
Carlsen-Anand 1-0

Anand scored important victory in Blindfold against Carlsen in 47 moves playing with white-pieces ... With that win Anand joined leader Aronian at 8 pts ... But in Rapid Carlsen scored victory over Anand in 48 moves and Aronian scored win over Topalov to remain leading by 1 pt over Anand.

His eighth round match against Aronian is important for his title race.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[SF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) l (3) Zi Yan (CHN)/ Jie Zheng (CHN) 76(4) 57 (4)10

Sania and Bethanie played superb match though they lost in super-tiebreak ... They had matchpoint in second set when they were leading 5-4 ... Sania is trying to get inside top 10 doubles ranking before June first week to recieve direct entry for Olympics doubles.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Noida Challenger, India

Singles Final -
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) l Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) 26 16

This was great opportunity for Sunitha to won her first singles Challenger level title but that didn't happen ... I think very poor outing for her, mostly she didn't recover from her long singles semi-final match.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai

(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt (Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) 61 62
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - Second Round

T4 Jeev M. Singh 68 70 -6
T20 Vijay Singh 73 68 -3
T32 Daniel Chopra 72 70 -2
T62 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 73 +3

Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India

Singles Semi Finals -
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) 76(5) 57 64
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt (3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) 62 26 76(6)

Doubles Final -
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt (3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 62 67(7) 10(6)

Superb win!!! Happy to see that Sunitha managed to win this close match .. It shows her mental toughness with improvement in her game ... Last 2 weeks performance also secured Sunitha's re-entry in top 160.

Now Sunitha having great opportunity to win her first Singles Challenger title.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai

Singles Semi Finals -
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt (WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) 62 64
(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) 64 62

Doubles Final -
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) 63 61
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Friday March 21 Round VI

Blindfold Chess -
Karjakin-Anand 0-1
Aronian-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Leko 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Morozevich 0-1
Gelfand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Anand-Karjakin 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Leko-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Gelfand 1/2-1/2

Anand won his blindfold match while Aronian drew his ... So a good start for Anand ... Anand managed only draw against Karjakin in Rapid ... But Aronian also had same fate against Morozevich so in end Anand managed to reduce distance by ½ pt after 6 rounds.

Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France
Thursday March 20 Round V

Blindfold Chess -
Topalov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Leko-Mamedyarov 1-0
Morozevich-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Gelfand 1-0
Ivanchuk-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Karjakin 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Topalov 1-0
Mamedyarov-Leko 1/2-1/2
Anand-Morozevich 1-0
Gelfand-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Ivanchuk 1-0
Karjakin-Van Wely 1-0

Standings Blindfold after 5 rounds -
1. Carlsen 3½
2. Ivanchuk 3
Kramnik 3
Morozevich 3
Topalov 3
3. Aronian 2½
Karjakin 2½
Leko 2½
Van Wely 2½
4. Anand 2
5. Mamedyarov 1½
6. Gelfand 1

Standings Rapid after 5 rounds -
1. Aronian 4
2. Anand 3½
3. Leko 3
4. Gelfand 2½
Ivanchuk 2½
Karjakin 2½
Kramnik 2½
Mamedyarov 2½
Topalov 2½
5. Carlsen 2
6. Van Wely 1½
7. Morozevich 1

Combined Standing after 5 rounds -
1. Aronian 6½
2. Anand 5½
Carlsen 5½
Ivanchuk 5½
Kramnik 5½
Leko 5½
Topalov 5½
3. Karjakin 5
4. Mamedyarov 4
Morozevich 4
Van Wely 4
5. Gelfand 3½

Interestingly this was Anand' third consecutive loss against Morozevich in Blindfold, ie 2006, 2007 & 2008 ... Aronian leading with a full point ... In next round Anand is facing Karjakin.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At World Golf Championships-CA Championship - First Round

T9 Jeev M. Singh 68 -4
T45 Daniel Chopra 72 E
T63 S.S.P. Chowrasia 74 +2

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) 75 46 11(9)

[SF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (3) Zi Yan (CHN)/ Jie Zheng (CHN)

After reading her yesterday's interview where she mentioned about MRI scan in 2 days I though she would skip doubles ... But she played and won hard fought match.
------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) l (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR) 36 46

Hesh and Mark couldn't do much against Israeli pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $25K Noida Challenger, India

Singles Quarter Finals -
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) 61 64
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) 63 2-1 Retd.

(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) 64 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt (7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) 26 62 61

Doubles Semi Finals -
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) 64 57 10(6)

(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) 64 64

After first set hiccup very dominating performance by Sunitha ... So now real test against almost same ranked player Ruutel in semis.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai

Singles Quarter Finals -
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI,1072) 61 64
(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) 62 62

(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt Purav RAJA (IND,874) 64 64
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt (5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) 76(0) 61

Doubles Semi Finals -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) 64 16 14(12)

(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) 16 63 10(7)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $8K Vietnam Open 2008

[SF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) 9-6 9-7 9-4 (36m)

[F] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) l (1) Louise Crome (NZL,27) 7-9 1-9 7-9 (47m)

Though scoreline suggests easy loss but considering match time of 47 minutes this final match was closely fought match .. Joshna couldn't produce magic which she showed against WR #28 Hansen in quarter-finals.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) l (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8) 16 67(4)

Lots of lost opportunities for Sania in this match ... She had 8 break points in first set, where 4 break points in first game only ... But she couldn't managed to convert any and in end she paid price for that ... Also 7 DFs in match didn't help ... In second set Sania also had set point on Daniela's serve 6-5, but again she lost that opportunity ... Sania only managed to break Daniela's serve 2 times in 13 chances but other hand Daniela broke Sania's serve 4 times in 8 chances.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) l (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 26 16

[QF] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs (4) Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/ Andy Ram (ISR)

These one-sided losses create doubt on success of this partnership of Lee and Paul.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)

[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) l Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA) 62 57 (9)11
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

Tuesday March 18 Round IV

Blindfold Chess -
Gelfand-Van Wely 0-1
Karjakin-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Carlsen 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Morozevich 1-0
Anand-Leko 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Topalov 0-1

Rapid Chess -
Van Wely-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Karjakin 1-0
Carlsen-Aronian 0-1
Morozevich-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Leko-Anand 1-0
Topalov-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2

Today Anand faced his 1st defeat of 2008 Amber event ... After drawing his Blindfold match in 33 moves ... Anand lost in 28 moves against Leko in Rapid ... :-(

Topalov, Aronian and Ivanchuk take advantage of that and now leading the pack with 5 pts ... Anand is half pt behind them on 4½ pts after 4 rounds.

Today is rest day ... On Thursday Anand will play against Morozevich.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Squash News -
At $8K Vietnam Open 2008,

[R1] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) Bye
[R1] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) Bye

[QF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,44) bt (2) Line Hansen (DEN,28) 10-9(2-1) 9-7 7-9 9-7 (62m)
[QF] (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61) bt (3) Elise Ng (HKG,37) 7-9 9-1 9-1 7-9 10-8(2-0) (65m)

[SF] (5) Joshna Chinappa (IND,) vs (6) Dipika Pallikal (IND,61)

Dipika and Joshna playing in Vietnam event ... Good upset win over top-40 Hong Kong player in quarters ... Joshna also scored one of the best victory of her small career with win over top-30 Danish player ... Now interesting match up against Dipika in semis.

Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India

Singles Second Round -
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) 62 62
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) 64 62

(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt (4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) 75 62
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) 75 64

(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) W/O
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) 62 63

(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) 64 62
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) 62 62

Doubles Quarter Finals -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) 64 62
(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 62 62

(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) 63 61
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 16 63 10(7)

Another easy victory for Sunitha ... But I m also pleased with performance of Sanaa, she fought hard in both sets.

After our all doubles teams losing in quarters now only Sunitha is keeping Indian challenge alive in this ongoing challenger.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai

Singles Second Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI,1072) bt (Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) 67(4) 75 62

(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) vs Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) 60 61
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) 67(4) 63 6-0

(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt John MCGAHON (IRL,922) 63 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) 62 62

(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) 76 64
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) 60 63

Doubles Quarter Finals -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) 63 64
(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) 57 63 10(7)

(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) 76(2) 76(6)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) 64 64

Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008

Group B - Matchday 2
East Bengal bt Ahli Sana'a, Yemen 1-0

Goal Scored - Edmilson Marques Pardal 34'

Group A - Matchday 2
Dempo SC l Sur Club, Oman 2-3

Goal Scored - Daouda Traore (SC) 9', Mamoudou Camara (SC) 69', Climax Lawrence (DSC) 80' (og) and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 26', Roberto Mendes Silva (DSC) 62'

So with that East Bengal scored their first victory in group match of AFC Cup.

But heartbreaking loss to Dempo in closely fought away match against Oman club ... Winner came for Oman Club as own goal from Climax Lawrence in 80th minute.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 63 63

Another easy victory for Mark and Hesh.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)

[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) l KUZNETSOV Alex (US,267) 46 46

Doubles -
[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Egypt F1 futures, Cairo (clay)

[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l TRAYKOV Ivaylo (BUL,506) 06 36

One-sided loss for Karan ... :(
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

Monday March 17 Round III

Blindfold Chess -
Mamedyarov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Anand 1/2-1/2
Leko-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Karjakin 1-0
Van Wely-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Mamedyarov 0-1
Anand - Topalov 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Aronian 1-0
Karjakin-Carlsen 1-0
Ivanchuk-Van Wely 0-1

Yesterday in third round, Anand battled hard against Topalov to draw his Blindfold game in 59 moves ... They also played 47 moves draw in Rapid.

But Aronian and Ivanchuk lost their Rapid games after drawing Blindfolds ... So now Anand is sole leader in combined standing with 1/2 pt after 3rd round.

Today Anand is playing against Leko with white-pieces in Blindfold and with black-pieces in Rapid.

Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India

Singles First Round -
(Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) bt (LL) Sonal Phadke (IND,749) 60 61
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (WC) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,UNR) 61 64
Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) bt Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN,350) 61 64
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (8) Magda MIHALACHE (ROU,256) 36 63 75

(4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND,353) 63 63
(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS,295) 60 63
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) bt Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE,281) 61 3-1 Retd
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (6) Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE,229) 36 64 76(3)

(5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) bt (WC) Parija MALOO (IND,692) 61 63
(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (PR) Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU,429) 64 26 60
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) bt Carmen KLASCHKA (GER,309) 60 67(4) 63
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Lisa SABINO (ITA,379) 63 64

(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Kristina ANTONIYCHUK (UKR,389) 63 64
(Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) bt (WC) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND,542) 61 64
Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN,359) 61 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Neha UBEROI (USA,345) 60 62

Doubles First Round -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) 16 62 10(6)
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (WC) Nicola MOONEY (GBR)/ Sonal PHADKE (IND) 62 61

(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Nicole ROTTMANN (AUT) 64 26 10(5)
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 62 36 10(4)

Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) bt Cagla BUYUKAKCAY (TUR)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 75 60
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ji-Young KIM (KOR)/ So-Jung KIM (KOR) 75 63

Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) bt Montinee TANGPHONG (THA)/ Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA) 64 26 10(8)
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt (2) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 63 26 10(8)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai

Singles First Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI.1072) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU,498) 62 75
(Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND,NR) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (LL) Ajai SELVARAJ (IND,1408) 62 62
(8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) bt (Q)Ye DU (CHN,1502) 62 63

(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Elbert SIE (INA,713) 61 60
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND,727) 63 62
(Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) bt (Q)Rupesh ROY (IND,1098) 64 75
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (7) Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB,704) 36 64 63

(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (6) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND,672) 63 64
John MCGAHON (IRL,922) bt (WC) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,NR) 67(5) 76(5) 62
Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) bt (Q) Rohan GIDE (IND,1408) 60 46 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt (3) Aqeel KHAN (PAK,547) 64 62

(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (Q) Kamala KANNAN (IND,1502) 61 62
(WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) bt Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,976) 62 63
Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) bt Danila ARSENOV (RUS,785) 36 64 76(3)
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND,716) 57 62 63

Doubles First Round -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 63
Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN)/ Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB) 62 60

(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (WC) Mithun MURALI (IND)/ Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 62 57 10(2)
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Kamala KANNAN (IND)/ Aqueel KHAN (PAK) 63 63

Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (WC) Nitten KIRRTANE (IND)/ Sandeep KIRTANE (IND) 64 63
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 63 64

John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) bt Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 67(4) 6- 11(9)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR)/ NELORD (IND) 76(4) 64

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18) 67(7) 75 63

[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8)

Doubles -
[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)

Impressive comeback win ... Good to see she dig deep to scored win over Shahar ... This was her 3rd consecutive win over Shahar, Sania leading their career meeting 3-1 .. As expected US hard-courts already favoring her game which showing in the results.

So now big match against Daniela in R4 of singles and doubles quarters against 2nd seed Taiwanian pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Christopher Kas (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED) 63 76(3)

[R2] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG) 75 26 10(5)

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER)

[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Good start for Hesh and Mark, now they will face singles specialist in second round.

I m happy for Lee and Paul's consecutive wins ... More matches they play, they will be settle as a pair ... Hoping their magical performance against strong experienced pair of Zimo and Nestor in quarters.

Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

This time 12 leading grandmasters (8 GMs from top 10 list and 11 GMs from top 15 list) playing blindfold and rapid chess games for highest prize money of 216,000 Euro (US $336,000).
Also venue is changed from Monaco to the beautiful French seaside resort of Nice.

Participants of the 2008 Amber Rapid and Blindfold Tournament -
1. Vladimir Kramnik - Russia (Elo 2799)
2. Viswanathan Anand - India (Elo 2799)
3. Veselin Topalov - Bulgaria (Elo 2780)
4. Alexander Morozevich - Russia (Elo 2765)
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Azerbaijan (Elo 2760)
6. Peter Leko - Hungary (Elo 2753)
7. Vasily Ivanchuk - Ukraine (Elo 2751)
8. Levon Aronian – Armenia (Elo 2739)
9. Boris Gelfand - Israel (Elo 2737)
10. Magnus Carlsen – Norway (Elo 2733)
11.Sergey Karjakin - Ukraine (Elo 2732)
12. Loek van Wely – The Netherlands (Elo 2681)

Saturday March 15 Round I

Blindfold Chess -
Anand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Leko 1-0
Gelfand-Karjakin 0-1
Aronian-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Ivanchuk 0-1

Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Anand 0-1
Morozevich-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Leko-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Aronian 0-1
Ivanchuk-Carlsen 1/2-1/2

In the first round Anand started with bang beating Kramnik in 42 moves in Rapid event, before that they agreed draw in 23 moves in Blindfold event.

Sunday March 16 Round II

Blindfold Chess -
Ivanchuk-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Carlsen 0-1
Karjakin-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Leko 1/2-1/2
Morozevich -Topalov 1-0
Anand-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Gelfand-Ivanchuk 0-1
Carlsen-Van Wely 1-0
Aronian-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Kramnik 0-1
Topalov-Morozevich 1-0
Mamedyarov-Anand 0-1

Anand continued with his good form in Rapid scoring another victory over Mamedyarov in 42 moves but again managed to draw in 46 moves in Blindfold.

Standings Blindfold after 2 round -
1. Ivanchuk 1½
Karjakin 1½
Morozevich 1½
2. Anand 1
Aronian 1
Carlsen 1
Kramnik 1
Mamedyarov 1
Topalov 1
3. Gelfand ½
Leko ½
Van Wely ½

Standings Rapid after 2 round -
1. Anand 2
Aronian 2
2. Carlsen 1½
Ivanchuk 1½
Topalov 1½
3. Kramnik 1
4. Gelfand ½
Karjakin ½
Leko ½
Mamedyarov ½
Morozevich ½
5. Van Wely 0

Combined Standing after 2nd round -
1. Anand 3
Aronian 3
Ivanchuk 3
2. Carlsen 2½
Topalov 2½
3. Karjakin 2
Kramnik 2
Morozevich 2
4. Mamedyarov 1½
5. Gelfand 1
Leko 1
6. Van Wely ½

Today in third round Anand playing with black-pieces against Topalov in Blindfold and with white-pieces in Rapid.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) 62 46 10(7)

So with this super tie-break win Sania and Bethanie in doubles quarters.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED) 19-21 20-22

[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 21-15 21-3

Another final and another Internationals title for Anand ... In his recent interview Prakash Padukone predicted Anand Pawar will be next player to watch and Anand is responding to his faith giving results though on lower level tournaments ... But then to get entry in to higher level tournaments he need to dominate these tournaments and I think this is only begining for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Final Standing (EPGA Tour)

2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 66 -24 $341,352.00
T11 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 67 -11 $ 52,944.00
T57 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 70 PAR $ 9,216.00

Jeev lost another golden opportunity of ending his title draught ... Frankly wild shot on 17th hole cost him title as then he gave chance to McDowell and lost in 3rd hole of play-off against Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.

Though finishing 2nd is creditable performance but I m still feeling bad for Jeev's lost opportunity.

Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Jun Takemura (JPN,132) 18-21 21-16 21-16
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63) 11-21 21-14 21-14

[SF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt (4) Stephan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,65) 21-16 16-21 21-3
[SF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) l Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 15-21 18-21

[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) l (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG) 18-21 21-19 14-21
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG) 21-19 14-21 21-17

[SF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt (3) Jorrit De Ruiter (NED)/ Jurgen Wouters (NED) 21-18 22-20

[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED)

[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Carl Baxter (ENG,103)

Ajay scored another upset comeback win to move in to semis but his luck ended against Englishman Baxter.

But what last few weeks for Anand!!! He is now aiming for his second Internationals title ... He showed solid temperament to produce back to back tough 3 games win.

Rupesh and Sanave Thomas must be hoping for back to back titles.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M / $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt Olga Savchuk (UKR,96) 46 61 64

[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18)

Doubles -
[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS)

[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) bt FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP) 63 64

[R2] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG)

So after losing first set Sania managed to turn table on Olga ... She needs more consistent performance against Shahar.

Good straight sets win for Lee and Paul ... Now they will face Argentine pair in second round.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Final -
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) 26 63 62
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259) 26 16

These one-sided losses hurt ... Now interesting to see how he perform next 2 weeks on Egyptian clay.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105) 21-12 21-9
[R2] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt P. Kashyap (IND,98) 21-18 8-21 23-21

[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) l (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR) 21-16 9-21 17-21

[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN) 21-11 21-17
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR) 21-12 21-16

[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Jun Takemura (JPN,132)
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63)

[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG)
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG)

Anand is in quarters with easy victory ... Ajay continues with his giant killing and yesterday beat his senior team-mate Kashyap to moved into quarters.

Aditi couldn't handle unrank Chinese qualifier's challenge after wining first game ... Our doubles teams scored easy victory.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Third Round (EPGA Tour)

T1 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 -18
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 - 6
T60 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 + 2

Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Andres Corpancho (PER,106) 21-17 21-13
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) bt (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212) 21-23 22-20 21-14
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62) 13-21 21-12 21-17
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) l Rune Massing (NED,129) 13-21 12-21

[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) bt (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66) 21-8 21-14
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) l Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79) 11-18 Retd.

[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR) 21-10 21-7

[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105)
[R2] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244)

[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR)

[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN)
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR)

Huge comeback win for Ajay over top-65 Frenchman Simon Maunoury ... Anand and P. Kashyap starting to show more consistency in their results, though Kashyap snatched victory from jaws of defeat against Dutch qualifier ... Aditi scored easy victory against seeded player but facing tricky second round match against young unranked Chinese qualifier.

But feel sad for Trupti, who is still struggling with her long injury.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Second Round (EPGA Tour)

T2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 -10
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 - 4
T56 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 Par
------ Cut @ PAR ------
83 KAPUR Shiv 74 73 +3

Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) l (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7) 9-11 Retd.
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) l (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1) 13-21 10-21

Anup retired from the match ... Lets hope its not serious injury ... Otherwise that will be big setback for his Olympics preparation.

Saina gave decent performance to win 10 or more points in both games against Chinese WR #1.
-----------------------------------------------
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[Q1] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Maxime Renault (FRA,469) 21-19 21-16
[Q1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Miguel Jardim (POR,UNR) 21-12 21-7

[Q2] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) Bye
[Q2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) Bye

[Q3] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Jeppe Lund (DEN,280) 16-21 21-17 25-23
[Q3] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Fernando Silva (POR,UNR) 21-9 21-12

Maindraw -
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Andres Corpancho (PER,106)
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212)
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62)
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) vs Rune Massing (NED,129)

[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66)
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) vs Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79)

[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR)
[R1] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) Bye

Good decent couple of wins for young Sagar Chopda.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Semi-Finals -
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) 64 06 75

Doubles Final -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) 26 62 10(4)

Sunitha and her partner managed to win first set against top seed Chinese but they couldn't converted that in to win.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs Olga Savchuk (UKR,96)

Doubles -
[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE) 63 62

Good start in doubles with easy victory ... In singles Sania is playing against Olga Savchuk, whom she defeated in 2007 Australian Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (6) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs KAS Christopher (GER)/ WASSEN Rogier (NED)

[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP)

Lee and Paul having tough and tricky first round match against Rafa and Ferrer.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Quarter-Finals -
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) 36 61 64
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) 67(5) 63 63

(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) 64 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) 75 62

Doubles Semi-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 75 63

(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt (4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 75 75

Creditable performance from Sunitha considering her health condition (stomach bug) though she lost good opportunity to win her first singles $50K Challenger title.

But in doubles Sunitha is in final with Vedy to face top seed Chinese pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920) 76(3) 36 61

[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259)

Karan match was postponed due to rain, today he scored 3 sets victory over Frenchman ... Good to see one sided score in third set after losing second ... Now he will play against Dutch top seed in quarters ... Go Karan.
-------------------------------------------
At $10K Canada F2, Montreal

[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) l (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495) 26 36
---------------------------------------------------------------
Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) l Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA) 18-21 17-21

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7)
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1)

Interesting to see, can Anup repeat his last time win against Hidayat and also Saina's performance against WR # 1 to see how much she progressed.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - First Round (EPGA Tour)

T3 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 -4
T3 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 -4
T63 GHEI Gaurav 72 Par
T98 KAPUR Shiv 74 +2

Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) bt Shoji SATO (JPN,17) 22-20 13-21 21-14

[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) bt Anna RICE (CAN,24) 21-13 21-13

Anup responded with good hard fighting win over top seed Japanese player ... This 55 mins match was close one as Anup won 56 rallies and Sato won 55 ... Anup's next round opponent is still to decide but mostly Olympics champion 7th seed Taufik Hidayat will be his opponent.

After longtime, frankly I feel like ages ... ;), Saina scored win over higher rank opponent and thats also in Super Series ... Next round her opponent will be Chinese WR #1 Xingfang Xie ... It would be great learning experiance for Saina.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND) / Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE)

In doubles Sania is partnering American Bethanie Mattek ... They r 7th seed pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Second Round -
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) 57 63 62
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt (Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) 63 61

(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) 76(5) 61
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt (WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) 57 63 62

(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) 57 64 61
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Isha Lakhani (IND,353) 62 64

(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Teodora Mircic (SRB,282) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) 63 61

Doubles Quarter-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) 76(5) 63

(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) W/O

(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt (Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) 76(1) 26 10(7)

(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) 61 64

Ankita won first set against top-200 player buth then lost next 2 quite easily.

Sunitha produced another solid performance to beat her Serbian opponent ... So now only Sunitha is keeing Indian interest in singles and with Uberoi sis in doubles.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group B - Round 1

Safa SC (LEB) bt East Bengal (IND) 1-0

Goal Scored - Rafael Mbassi (SSC) 17'

East Bengal showed fighting performance, but couldn't converted in to win.

Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l Yu Hsin HSIEH (TPE,51) 12-21 18-21
[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) bt (3) Marc ZWIEBLER (GER,31) 14-21 21-12 21-16

[Q2] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) l Petr KOUKAL (CZE,39) 16-21 19-21

Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs Shoji SATO (JPN,17)

[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs Anna RICE (CAN,24)

[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) vs Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA)

This is 3rd Super Series event of the year ... Hopefully our players improve their performance in Super Series with this Basel event.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group A - Round 1, Goa

Dempo Sc (IND) bt Al Ansar (LEB) 3-1

Goal Scored - Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 21' & 32', Chidi Edeh (DSC) 62' and Hassan Danash (AlA) 89'

Good start for I-League Champion Dempo ... Captain Ranty lead from the front and scored 2 goals in 10 mins ... East Bengal's will play their group match later in the day.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) Bye

Indian Wells draw is out and Sania is 21st seeded ... She is having first round bye and in second round she will meet winner between Ukranian Olga Savchuk and Russian Yaroslava Shvedova ... Sania having 1-0 record against Olga and 1-1 record against Shvedova.

If Sania wins her second round match then she can meet 9th seed Shahar Peer in 3rd round, 5th seed Daniela Hantuchova in 4th round and 4th seed Maria Sharapova in quarters ... But all these matches r long shot before that she needs to win her second round match ... :)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[R1] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) STOLIAROV Andrei (RUS,1495) 62 61

[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920)
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At $10K Canada F2, Montreal

[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) vs (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495)

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles First Round -
Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) bt (1) Andreja Klepac (SLO,130) 61 62
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Magda Mihalache (ROU,256) 63 63
(Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) bt (WC) Shikha Uberoi (IND,955) 63 63
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Sandy Gumulya (INA,245) 62 60

(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB,307) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) bt (Q) Suchanun Viratprasert (THA,536) 36 75 61
(WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) bt Ivana Lisjak (CRO,213) 63 1-0 Retd
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt Veronika Chvojkova (CZE,281) 64 57 64

(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (WC) Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND,475) 60 63
Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) bt (Q) Lisa Sabino (ITA,379) 76(5) 57 62
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT,268) 76(5) 76(4)
(WC) Isha Lakhani (IND,353) bt (3) Vesna Manasieva (RUS,144) 63 Retd.

(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ,318) 64 64
Teodora Mirčić (SRB,282) bt (PR) Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU,429) 61 75
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt Corinna Dentoni (ITA,192) 64 64
(2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) bt Anastasia Poltoratskaya (RUS,295) 62 63

Doubles First Round -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 64 61
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Isha LAKHANI (IND) 63 75

Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) bt (3) Ekateryna DZEHALEVICH (BLR)/ Vesna MANASIEVA (RUS) W/O
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 36 63 10(8)

(Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) bt Debbrich FEYS (BEL)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 63 76(1)
(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND)/ Nicola MOONEY (GBR) 62 62

Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Andreja KLEPAC (SLO)/ Margit RUUTEL (EST) 63 10 Retd
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 75 64

Today 2 retirements and both against Indian players ... More importantly in their respective matches Ankita and Isha won first set against their formidable opponents.

Sunitha won easily against tricky Ksenia Palkina ... Top seed Klepac lost in one-sided match, yesterday she retired from her doubles match so mostly she didn't recover fully from her injury in today's single match.

Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile

Final - India l Great Britain 0-2 (0-2)
Goal Scored - Barry Middleton 4', Richard Mantell (PC) 10'

3rd place – Russia bt Austria 6-3 (4-1)

5th place - Chile bt Mexico 9-3 (5-2)

Today is a Doomsday for Indian hockey … Our hockey team achieved such a feat that not any other Indian team managed to achieve that in last 80 years … Don’t know whom to blame about this fiasco our team, coach Joaquim Carvalho or KPS Gill and Jothikumaran … In my view all r equally responsible for this state of hockey … FIH appointed Australian Ric Charlesworth to help us out … But our bureaucrats and (importantly) coach Joaquim Carvalho wasn’t ready to accept his help thinking they were having great plan (?) to revive Indian hockey … They even tried and were successful that for important tournaments like this Olympics qualifier and Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament , Ric couldn’t reach.

This was expected result after watching our round-robin matches ... In those matches we showed poor execution of plan (or lack of plan) with stupid mistakes ... But still there was some hope of miracle.

Now usual stuff will begins like resignation of coaches, captain and retirement of some players … But that doesn’t help us until our top hockey brass remain on their position … If we really want to revive hockey and plan for 2012 Olympics then we should start from removing current IHF body and start building young team ( like Malaysia).

Golf News -
At Maybank Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur - Final Standing

1 ATWAL Arjun 70 68 68 64 -18 $333,330
T6 RANDHAWA Jyoti 67 65 70 71 -15 $ 56,200
T37 GHEI Gaurav 67 71 72 70 - 8 $ 13,600
T46 CHOWRASIAS.S.P 66 73 69 74 - 6 $ 9,600

Mission accomplished for Arjun!!!

Arjun only planned to play in India and his favorite tournaments on Asian (EPGA) tour to get confidence and momentum before crucial Nationwide tournaments in hunt of securing PGA Tour card for season 2009 … But he achieve more than what he imagined before coming to Asian Odyssey with winning his second Malaysian Open title which he also won in 2003 which grab him European tour card for next 2 seasons … Simply amazing and unbelievable.

Arjun Atwal - “It is an amazing feeling. I don’t know how to put it into words. To come here and win this title twice now is incredible. On the first play-off hole I thought Peter Hedblom was in trouble off the tee but he played an amazing recovery and that put the pressure on me.

I didn’t think I had a chance starting fourth round and just relaxed from the first hole. It was only on the 11th I felt I had a chance. It is incredible.”

Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile

India bt Chile 4-1 (3-0)

Goal Scored -
India - Prabhjot Singh 9', V.R. Raghunath 23' & (PC) 61', Bharath 24'
Chile - Felipe Montegu (PC) 64'

Other Matches -
Great Britain bt Austria 4-0
Russia bt Mexico 9-1

Again Indian team failed to impress with their game or game plan ... Same old problems of poor marking, unnecessary hitting, faulty ball traping and poor passing ... Indian team need lot more improvement if we really want to qualify for Olympics.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb

[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) l (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)

[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL) 21-5 21-6
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) l Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-15 14-21 21-19

[F] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-9 21-14

Kaori scored surprisng win over Aditi ... But Rupesh and Sanave performed as per their ranking to win Croatian International title.

Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[F] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (3) Martin DAMM (CZE)/ Pavel VIZNER (CZE) 75 76(7)

Excellent quality match between these 2 teams ... Both teams fought until end without giving much to other team ... Frankly it was difficult to mentioned who had bad day, both teams were deserve to win ... Mark and Hesh increased their game level few notches when required that was difference between these teams.

Damm and Vizner saved 2 match points in tie-break but Mark and Hesh managed to convert 3rd ... Simply high quality doubles match.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb

[QF] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) l Ville LANG (FIN,88) 21-15 18-21 13-21
[QF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt (Q) Patty STOLZENBACH (NED,113) 21-19 21-13

[R2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Konstantin DOBREV (BUL)/ Stiliyan MAKARSKI (BUL) 21-16 21-12
[R2] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Rene NICHTERWITZ (AUT)/ David OBERNOSTERER (AUT) 21-6 21-12

[QF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Dave KHODABUX (NED)/ Lester OEY (NED) 21-12 21-16
[QF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Martin BEYER (DEN)/ Maxime RENAULT (FRA) 21-11 21-16

[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) vs (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)

[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) vs Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL)
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) vs Jakub BITMAN CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO)

Anand couldn't convert good start in to the win ... But Aditi taking full advantage of weak draw, now in the semis she is playing another qualifier, who defeated 2nd seed top-45 European player in first round.

In doubles both teams r on course of meeting in the final, now need another one win to meet in the final.

Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain

Round 14 - Friday, March 7th
Anand ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko ½-½ Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk


Final Standing after 14 Rounds -
1 Vishwanathan Anand IND 8½ pts
2 Magnus Carlsen NOR 8 pts
T3 Levon Aronian ARM 7½ pts
T3 Veselin Topalov BUL 7½ pts
5 Teimour Radjabov AZE 7 pts
6 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 6½ pts
T7 Peter Leko HUN 5½ pts
T7 Alexei Shirov ESP 5½ pts

Anand played 23 moves quick draw against Topalov ... And as all other games ended in draw including 69 moves Carlsen and Radjabov match, Anand retained his ½ pt advantage to win Morelia-Linares Championship title.

This was Anand's 3rd Linares title and Anand became only 2nd player after Garry Kasparov, who defended his title successfully.
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Tennis News -
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[QF] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) l SANON Valentin (CIV,629) 67(4) 61 16

Doubles -
[SF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) l BELYAEV Ilya (RUS)/ KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS) 62 67(5) (12)14

Karan gave fight to ex-top 300 player, Sanon, who is doing comeback after injury break ... In doubles also Karan and Alexander missed opportunity to finish the match in 2nd set only.